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Scott Boras and Mark Teixeira didn't take the Orioles seriously because the Orioles didn't take Mark Teixeira and Scott Boras seriously.

The Orioles low balled Mark Teixeira just as they low balled Nick Markakis a few weeks ago.

It's bad business and I can understand why Scott Boras didn't come back and deal with the Orioles.

We're going to continue to lose if Angelos and McFAIL continue to run this team, this organization, in this manner.

"We could have gone the same route as the Nationals," said a team official, "and it would have ended the same."

But at least you would have tried and Tex would look like the bad guy. Now it looks like the Orioles didn't even make an effort and you never know if he would have taken the money...

Instead it's just another token bid and a horrible PR move. The Orioles blew it big time here...

MacPhail's got a ton of work to do so the Orioles don't lose their entire fanbase...

So taking a line from your blog - if you were Andy MacPhail - what would you be doing this off-season from this point on?

Hey Roch,

Just wanted to thank you for the good work during this saga. The heat you received from some was unwarranted and immature. Thanks for the great work, keep it up! O's will get through this, as it sounded like Tex was set on the yanks to begin with. I don't see how people can bash AM too much, but I'm sure they will...

I never expected Teixeira to come to Baltimore, so I'm actually kind of glad that this is over, even if it didn't result in him coming to Baltimore. Now we can finally move on and talk about other things and watch as other baseball moves are made around the league. I was tired of the holding pattern that Teixeira/Boras held over all of baseball.

However, I am disappointed to see M.T. choose the Yankees. His going to Boston would've been bad for the Orioles, too, but my hatred for the Yankees runs much deeper.

Roch,

Its done. Time to move on. There is no need lamenting what, as fans, we cannot control. What is Plan B (besides pitching)? Hank Blalock? What do we have to give up to get him? When does he become a free agent? Is Adam Dunn as a DH/LF a consideration?

So now we lose a bunch of poorly pitched games 9-6 instead of 9-8. Let's take $140 million and establish a second AAA or AA team and fill it with as many kids as we can sign from all over the world. Dave Johnson said it best on MASN this afternoon: The Orioles will have to have better scouts and better development people than the Yankees or Red Sox. Let's face it, there are the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, and Dodgers and then there are all the other teams.

Roch,

I and many others from Orioles Hangout owe you an apology. You gave us the cold hard facts and... well, we didn't want to hear it.

You're a good man, Mr. Kubatko. And we're very lucky to have you. :)

Once again, I hope you accept our apologies.

One thing you will never know is the intentions of Boras or Texiera.
Boras most likely promised this Mercenary a big deal with NY or Boston.
Also, has anyone other than me wonder why Texiera has been with so many teams in a short time.

I think its fairly obvious that he did not want to play for the orioles. boras didn't even give them a chance to negotiate. kinda makes me wish we never even would have offered him a contract. and people need to stop referring to him as an orioles fan, his favorite player was on the yankees not the orioles.

just another yankee to root against. I hope all three of their signings end up on the dl or can't handle the pressure of playing in new york.

Oh come on AM. You cant go throwing out names like the Twins when it comes to being successful. That team does not play in the AL East. Poor excuse for not throwing more money at him.

Cant wait for that sellout to come to town though. Merry Christmas Mark, have fun in the smelly bronx with the spoiled fans and the new old stadium. Glad you wanted to be a part of something so fake and so ridiculous that you had to turn to the revived evil empire for some support and love. No money in the world would have brought you here to the team you grew up watching (i think). Typical piece of Mt. St. Joe trash, you are where you belong.

Roch,

Ok everyone it's time to get over this and move on...let's go get those pitchers we need, as well as a 1B. It really is not the end of the world.

I guess it was unrealistic of us O's fan to think a player like homegrown Tex would save us from an extra year or two of losing. Afterall he's a Boras guy...did we really ever have a chance. Hey Roch, can you write another story or blog about Guthrie firing Boras? That takes the sting away momentarily.

Thanks for all the hard work and insights, Roch. Sorry you had to put up with some crazy postings. You're one of the best sports reads on the Internet. Get some rest. Enjoy the holiday.

Wow. Teixeira's going to get booed in three different stadiums. Angels, Red Sox and Orioles. Do the Yankees play the Nationals? If so... four!

It is over! Baseball is no longer fun! The top three FA's all went to the Yankees not counting Manny who is rumor on the Yanks list. Baseball needs a salary cap more than ever! Money does not manner to the top teams like Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Mets...
Now the O's will most likely lose most if not all of their best players in the near future. By trades or by FA in the next few years. They will have be very very luckly to come close to the top teams in the future.
Rays may be model. But it took many years of being the worse team in baseball. O's are bad but not bad enough to get the players they need. You have to be luckly to pick right players in the draft too.
If people think this good for baseball as whole. They are fans of one of the top $ team markets.
salary cap is needed now!!
Daniel

I will once again be attending zero orioles games.

Peter Angelos has killed baseball for me and my family.

The Twins? While I admit they are run well, if the O's can put a good quality product on the field then they will have a much larger revenue flow then the Twins. It is one thing to not be able to keep pace with the Red Sox and the Yankees but to try and group the O's with the small market Twins is ridiculous.

Not signing AJ doesn't bother me, not signing Tex doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that every move that AM has made, with the exception of our new SS (which as a move was pretty much forced by the play there last year) has had the effect of lowering payroll. Seriously, drafting rule 5 guys then selling them? Every sound coming out of the FA this offseason seems to be saying buy low...buy low... Dunn and Sheets are still on the market, the O's arn't interested, but toss a non-tender guy in front of them and they are on the phone post haste! They seemed to be interested in some of the pitchers from Japan, until the Red Sox came into the picture, now not a word out of them.

Tampa caught lightning in a bottle last year, next season they are a third place team. The odds of another team with a payroll 1/3 the Yankees and Red Sox beating them in the AL East is extremely short.

Spending stupid is stupid but the O's fans deserve more of an investment from ownership then what looks to be happening.

There are many reasons to be mad for Tex not signing here. 1. Scott Boras is an ass and he used the Orioles, Nats and Sawx, 2. Tex never really wanted to come here and 3. the FO got into this, made an offer, and never upped the ante. I for one am not suprised or dissapointed he didnt sign here. What I will be dissapointed in is if the Orioles dont do what they have been talking about since last year...go after pitching. They were willing to offer Tex just over 20 mil. per year, let see how cheap Peter the Great get when it comes to signing a Paul Byrd or someone of that nature. Take a chance on Sheets! He just may turn out to be your ace at a cheap price. Now that we dont have Tex, goodbye Brob!

I know I said I was done for the holiday but I had to chime in.

Amazing. Simply Amazing. We all had Tex going to the red sox but those damn Yankees swept in and got him. This proves one thing... the Yankees can get whatever they want. I'm actually glad Tex is going to the Yankees because now I get to boo our "almost home town hero" during Opening Day. This whole scenario proves that it's not about heart, or the game, it's about the money and the label that comes with playing for a certain team. I hope to GOD that we kill them on Opening Day. That is all I want.

Merry Christmas to everyone on here and I would like to say to MacPhail, thank you. Thank you for trying your hardest and for thinking clearly. Maybe you knew something we didn't know and saw that his asking price was not worth it. Who knows... but I thank you for trying and also getting rid of Ramon. Finally I want to give a shout out to Kevin Millar because I hope he comes back. Then on Opening Day we'll beat the Yankees with a homerun from Millar!!! : )

Merry Christmas everyone!

Roch - Sunday you presented the "what if you were GM for a day scenario". I, along with one other person said you contact Boras and set up a meeting to find out exactly what it takes to get Tex in an Orioles uniform. My meeting included Boras, Tex, PA, and Myself(the GM).

Today's end result is exactly why the Orioles should have had such a meeting. It was ludicrous to sit on your hands and wait!

Roch,
A season ticket holder for 18 years. An Oriole fan for over 32 years.
I am done. This was the final straw. The O's knew right up front what it was going to take to get him, but again they threw a wonderful PR show on, and now they have to live with it.

Thanks for everything you have done. This will be my last posting on either Schmucks or your blogs. I wish you and your family the best over the holiday season.

But when the team isnt going to committ to itself or the fans, why should we committ to them.

Where I go....I am a diehard Baysox fan here in Crofton. SO I will follow them and then pick a MLB team to follow. And NOT the nationals.

I am finished...This is not the Orioles team I once knew with Ripken, Murray, Robinson and so on....Peter has created an environment that is not conclusive to the "old" fans.

I will be one of many HOPEFULLY to do the same

Best wishes on your career and family
Kirk

All I have to say after this is that the O's really need to get on the ball and get some good pitching signed otherwise the fan base is going to keep shrinking further and further.

Fans seem so disappointed that this happened but I'm just glad we didn't overpay just to beat out another team. I think Andy valued Tex and when that number was exceeded he didn't budge. We all need to remember that we were in a very unique situation when it came with Tex. He never would have been interested in the Orioles had he not been from Maryland and the Orioles never would have so strongly attempted to lock in a player of such high free agency status Mark Teixeira had in a rebuilding state. Teixeira would have obviously been a nice addition and face of the franchise but only time will tell whether he is worth the 180million and we will never know 10 years down the road how much Tex would have helped this organization win. but the extra 170 million will likely help us continue on our rebuilding path

i just vomited in my mouth after reading this. f***ks sake. and cardinals fans think the NL Central is "tough" with the cubs.

ok -- so who's next...?

I think it was important for putting fans in the seats, and perhaps the "Cal Ripken" like player back in an O's uniform..

However, after he went to the Yanks, and the thought that he really wanted to go to the Yankees, makes you question whether he really wanted to come to the O's...

I respect McPhail alot for his response, and the way he put it...

And as the one team official "it would have ended the same if we would have went the way the Nationals did"

Bud Selig is to blame for that, there needs to be a Salary Cap in baseball

ENOUGH SAID! Baseball is going to be "Gone Past-Time" and the NFL and NASCAR are going to take over as the Top Sporting events in the future...

Despite having high hopes, I always believed that the O's were a long shot in the Teixeira Derby. Still, I'm very disappointed....and will probably always wonder if the Orioles really tried, or were just playing the same old game of "Let's Fool The Fans."

While $180M+ is a lot of money, I have no doubt that Teixeira would have made a huge, positive difference in the Orioles future. Hopefully they will move forward and quickly do something to soften the blow....signing Adam Dunn and Ben Sheets might help....but I fear the damage has already been done. Attendance will continue to fall, more rapidly now I suspect, as the Orioles become more and more of an after-thought.

This is typical of the new american culture. Greed over family. Mark Texiera, you can suck it buddy. We'll be better off without you and in a few years when Matusz, Tillman and Arrieta are mowing you down and leading us to the promise land we'll be laughing in your face. You want a ring, why don't you ask Mussina if you can borrow his. Oh, wait a minute, he thought he was going to get one too in New York but didn't. Hmmmm...I guess sometimes it doesn't pay to be a greedy (insert your favorite noun expletive here).

Also, this is just another sign of how screwed up baseball is allowing one or two teams to basically make every other team a glorified minor league team for them to pluck players from when they get to free agency. But for some reason I think this will eventually bite the MFYanks in butt when we see Commisioner MacPhail take office in a few years and he restructures the payroll system in baseball. God bless the O's, but screw MLB.

Ahhhh....I feel much better now.

Now the Yankees are guaranteed to win the World Series every year, just like when they signed Mussina and Giambi and A-Rod and... oh wait.

No problem here with the O's passing. Life goes on. Still a fan.

Roch,

This is typical of the Yankees and it gives me hope! The Yankees and not the Orioles are the worst run franchise in baseball. Here is my argument: after years and years of unlimited budgets where are they? They have six outfielders on their 40-man roster: Cabrera, Damon, Christian, Nady, Swisher and Gardner. IMO not one of these guys would start for the O's. Matsui is DH, another non-starter for the O's. Catcher? Posada is no Wieters. Cano vs Roberts? Cano would need to have a monster year with the bat, and even then the Yankee pitchers would not be happy.

I give them starting pitching - in spades.....if they stay healthy. Bull pen? Not so much. The O's have the advantage.

This Yankee team is not going to the playoffs. You heard it here first.

I have been saying for at least a year that he wasn't coming here.

It was obvious.

Roch,

Thanks for all of the updates. I did get my hopes up, but life goes on. Now it will be a little sweeter to beat them. They say baseball is sometimes a microcosm of life. I look at the economy and see the New York taxpayers wondering why their tax dollars are being used to "bail out" the Yankees by funding the new stadium, a new train station, etc., while sons of George go crasy with spending. Kinda like bank CEOs takiing a bonus with bail out money.
The most telling story was someone who pointed out that Tex's favorite player was Don Mattingly, so now he gets to play the same position in the same uniform. Good luck to him, and lets get on with finding some pitching. Defense is improved with a SS and offence was good enough to win a lot more games last year IF we could have pitched. Ben Sheets looks pretty good too me even with the spotty health record. He can help mentor the youth corps. Anyway, lets move on. Thanks again.

Roch,

I think it’s pretty simple. If Tex was truly interested in the O’s he would have made sure that we had an opportunity to counter any offer. It sounds like that opportunity was never extended to his so called “home town team”. It’s hard to admit to myself….but I believe his first choice was always going to the spanks or suxs!

Life goes on. Get some rest Roch. You deserve it!

Teixeira had no intentions of signing here. He was using the Orioles. I dont blame the front office one bit. They did a good job on this. Tex is the one to blame here. He wanted to go to a team that can win now, even if it was our rival.

Well said Andy, let's move on

Roch,

160 posts on the previous entry. All-time record, topping the day Wild Bill died, if I'm not mistaken. How on earth do you read it all, and how long does it take you to do that considering you need to read carefully for ill-chosen language?

Anybody who blames you needs to get a life. MASN isn't a news-gathering vehicle per se, and you are not actually a reporter per se, even though you used to be.

The worst part is knowing that everyone booing Tex when the Yanks play at Yankee Stadium South next year will be outcheered by the Yankee faithful who fill two-thirds of our park.

Realistically, committing yourself to that kind of money, as I've mentioned, would have painted us into a corner when it came time to pay Nick a couple years from now, and pay Wieters about five years from now, and pay Brian. And then pay Arieta, since he's a Boras guy.

The good news: Tom Davis won't have to mispronounce Boras's name for a while.

I'm sure that Andy MacPhail will respond with the blockbuster one-year signing of Kevin Millar.

Honestly, missing out on Tex wouldn't be such a big deal if the FO had the ability to make other meaningful moves. Question: the team is supposed to be rebuilding. In 18 months on the job, how many players has MacPhail added for the 2010 roster?

4 or 5? Maybe, if everything pans out with their minor league careers? And that's counting high draft picks which would've come about if ANYONE were running the team.

When, exactly, will the floodgates open to let in all of the (yet to be found) young players who are supposed to be leading this team to the playoffs?

Worst. Rebuilding. Effort. Ever.

When are the yanke$$ ever going to learn that you can't buy a World $erie$ Champion$hip?

You'd think they would have learned their lesson a few years ago when they lost to Cleveland.....

As for Teix - I say: good riddance. And for Bora$ - you're nothing but a greedy hog.

Screw Teixeira! Baseball needs a salary cap! The spending spree by the Yankees is complete crap! Hope Teixeira and the Yankees go down in flames!

Okay, I would have loved to have gotten this guy. But it didnt happen and its not anyone in the Orioles organization that is responsible for the outcome. Boras used the Orioles and Nats to get a high offer that the Sox or Yanks could match/beat.

I believe this because McPhail said the offer was flexible but Boras did not come back to him with the 180mil offer from the Yanks to try and match.

If Teix wanted to go to the Yanks, I understand. I even understand the "excuse" given to the fans about his signing. The problem I have is, why even waste your time if you didn't think you were in it from the outset? Why waste the fans' time? There are numerous other FAs which would cost less that the O's could go after.
To say that you want to build on the Twins model is a joke - there is way more money potential in the Baltimore area than he is tapping into.
TB took 10 YEARS to get to this point, saying that is a way to look at things is ridiculous.
You either commit to making the team better quickly, or wait for the collective bargaining checks.
I'm assuming the latter for this team.

Follow the model of organizations like the Twins??? We are NOT the Twins. We are not the Royals. We are not the Pirates. We are not the Brewers. We are not the Marlins. We are not the Rays. We are NOT a SMALL MARKET TEAM!!! Why must we be run as one? Pat Gillick did not run us like a small market team.

And who is the team official that said "we could have gone the same route as the Nationals and it would have ended the same"...then you know what, we should have gone that route, because then it would have ALL been on Mark and him not wanting to be here. But instead I get to read that MacPhail says that we need to be the like the &%*&^^ Twins....I can't stand the Twins. Mark is a joke. We are a joke. I need a life.

This is no shocker. Roch, admit it, you knew all along that the delay was Boras talking the Yanks into making an offer.

Tex wanted to go to the Yanks all along. There is plenty of quotes out there, from him, stating how he grew up wanting to be the next Mattingly. He was the kid at the O's game wearing the Yanks hat!

He doesn't even live in MD. The BoSox flew to TEXAS to meet with him!

This just shows how big a joke MLB is! Until there is a salary cap, like every other pro league....this will be the same old story told over and over!

At least there is officially a reason to boo him now. The Yankees? REALLY? What a waste. Now on to getting some pitching which is what we needed anyway.

Poor Roch has to deal with all the part time fans blaming Peter and Andy.

I honestly don't think he had any desire to play here; I think Boras used Washington and Baltimore, and the hometown desire to drive up the price with Boston and New York. If you have the opportunity I would like for you to figure out how this impacts New York with the draft; since baseball has their Type A free agent and so forth, will New York lose draft picks and with them having signed Sabathia, Burnett and Teixiera, will New York have any picks left in the draft (sarcasm). I know their is something that a team has to do in order to get the draft picks from a team but I'm concerned that that wasn't followed with the teams that they played for and as a result, not only did the Yankees sign these players but they may get additional draft picks with Giambi and anybody else they may have lost. For the record, I hope the O's sign Roberts but I'm concerned his trade value may be gone and as a result. I'm not so sure the draft compensation for losing a Type A free agent may not be better than a trade for low level minor leaguers. The good news is that somehow MacPhail got something for Hernandez which makes me think there is a market for Roberts but I really don't want him to leave Baltimore, if I'm the O's I give Roberts more than what he wants to keep him here. They need some positive publicity right now.

it would have been nice to get tex, but not at that price. i think the orioles made the prudent decision. ultimately this contract would have inhibited what the orioles could have done in the future. it also could have been a case of escalating salary and diminishing returns. tex is a very, very, good player. i think one may question whether he is a great player. it is arguable whether or not if he has ever been the best player on his own team.
the intangibles he bought to the table as an oriole were unique. a hometown, switch hitter, who plays great defense are certainly something that the orioles would want but not at the expense of player development and limiting one's payroll flexibility in the future.
as painful as it is the course to follow, in my opinion, is the one that we are on. that is building the organization from the ground floor up, increasing the amount of viable major league players are in your minor league inventory and being prudent financially.
the orioles will not be successful overnight, this is abundantly clear, but their are some signs that things are turning around. a myopic signing to appease fans would inhibit the orioles capacity to create a structure that will yeild a winning team on a consistent basis.

I dont want to hear that garbage the Orioles didnt have much of an opportunity to counter the Yankees offer.... Orioles fans I hope you enjoyed watching Brian Roberts cause he's outta here.... probablly before the season even starts.... What kind of a message does this send to your fans.. guess we will have to wait and see if PROSPECTS work out... Let's remember Orioles have had lots of prospects.....Ponson....Cabrera.....Bedard....Riley.....and now...... Tillman....Arrieta.....Matsuz......Bergenson.....Erbe....... I hope the Orioles like there horrible attendance this year..........have fun Peter Angelos.....the garbage your gonna be putting on the field..... Poor Nicky M

Roch-

What do the O's do now? Do you get the sense the Roberts id gone? There really is no way he resigns in Baltimore, will we really make an effort to get good vetern pitching? Will this be yet another 90 plus loss season? What could the O's possibly do to be more competitive this season besides doing what the South did... secede from the AL East...

I do not fault Angelos, McPhail, or the Orioles for not getting Teixeira. It was pretty obvious that the Orioles were not going to get a chance to sign him given the events in the last week. Teixeira was only interested in getting $$$.

Now that we have quite a bit of money left over, it is time to extend Roberts and Markakis.

I do worry about what will happen with Wieters in a few years since he is a Boras client.

How much have the Yankees spent this offseason? Over $400 million?!? Baseball need to address this now! There cannot be a level playing field without a salary cap! $100 million max payroll -- no exceptions! Teams like the Yankees should not be allowed to continue to spend this type of money.

I trust MacPhail very highly. However, to be honest, I think he dropped the ball in being too conservative. I think the final line says it all. If it would have ended the same, then where's the harm in making the offer? If he signs, Hooray, if not, then at least we made an effort.

We have no one in our system at 1B. IMO, Tex is worth it. Baltimore is not Minnesota. We have the money to spend, and I think we should have made a better offer.

That sound you just heard was me throwing in the towel.

Don't know if I have the energy to wait for 5 more years of high draft choices to follow the model of the Rays.

Wouldn't blame Nick or Roberts for going somewhere else either.

Welcome to the Baltimore Pirates.

So much for the "local" boy. Greed is an ugly thing and so are the boos he'll hear every time he comes here and beats us.

MCFAIL HAS TO GO PETE SHOULD GET OUT IF HE CANT COMPETE DO THE TWINS HAVE A TV STATION FOR TWO TEAMS DO THEY HAVE THE CROWN JEWEL STADIUM VENUE WE HAVE WE WONT SIGN B ROB NICK IS GONE CANT WAIT FOR TRAINING CAMP FOR THE RAVENS TO OPEN IN JULY ALREADY PETE PLEASE GET OUT

I don't mean to get on Andy's case, because I have been pleasantly surprised with his managing of the team so far...but why take the risk of fan backlash by pretending to be in the game with a "flexible" offer when you knew it wasn't where you were willing to go?

Now, it sounds like Andy is saying that we'll never pony up for the really good players?! Does that mean that if Matt Weiters does turn out to be Jesus in a Catcher's Mask that we better enjoy him for the six years that we have him because once other teams start bidding on him we'll be out? Boras is his agent too and he's not likely to sign an extension before free agency...so are we just grooming him for the Yankees to one day buy him too? If we can't grow our own guys AND sign big money contracts from time to time we'll never be anything more than Oakland where there is no sense in having a favorite player since he'll only be there for 3-4 years anyway.

I'm trying SO hard not to take this as emotionally as I feel it right now (because some of this disappointment is geared toward Tex whom obviously never had ANY genuine interest in coming here and just really wanted New York), but it's just hard to keep bouncing back from disappointment after disappointment with this team.

I, truly, didn't realy think, even if they can afford it, that the Yankees would do it. Just to at least keep up the guise that there is fairness in the way the mlb structure is set up.
How can you possibly compete.
But, having said that, where are the O's planning on spending the money? If they can not commit a certain amount of money to 1 player, OK. Where are the 2 players that will make it? The 3?
Unbeleivable.

I dont think he really wanted to come here. Roch do you think maybe they were using the red sox, orioles, and nationals to get the yankees involved? Maybe he wanted to go there in the first place if they didnt give even the red sox a chance to counter offer.

Of course he signed with NY... reminds me of the Meatballs movie (again): And even if we win, if we win, HAH! Even if we win! Even if we play so far above our heads that our noses bleed for a week to ten days; even if God in Heaven above comes down and points his hand at our side of the field; even if every man woman and child held hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter because all the really good looking girls would still go out with the guys from Mohawk because they've got all the money! It just doesn't matter if we win or we lose. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!

He was on record saying he wanted to play on a winning team and word is that his hero was not Cal or Brooks, but Mattingly! Let's get on with it... sign Dunn and 3 pitchers; extend Brob and Nick.

Thanks for all you do Roch.

I hope you realize whether the comments were negative/positive/outlandish most people just would love for the Orioles to be relevant again. I will still go, and will try and reup my 13 game pack, but I have a feeling I'm in the minority.

Ho ho ho! Merrrrrrrry Christmas

OK. Now let's get some pitching. It's disappointing yes, but AM is right...too much cash for one player. He's also exactly right about last years' champs. Yanks, no post season. Tigers, losing season. Stick to the plan. Pitching, defense, draft. Roch, thanks for putting up with all this and enjoy your dinner. Hope you get a break. It's the holidays for God's sake.

The one thing that andy doesn't get is this isn't 1987 0r 1991 anymore when the twins were built. You can't tell me that baseball is suppose to be set up this way where 1 team can spend 423 million on 3 players. Roch i knew in my heart the orioles were never gone to sign him,but right now that is all the orioles have is hope and all the fans got let down. In today economy with so many people suffering they allow baseball teams top spen that kind of money. It's a joke and once again i am finished with baseball and with the orioles.Nothing is ever going to change they will always be in this divison and they will never be able to compete with boston and the yankee's .

Sad - just sad - but we will improve next year and get better each year - sad that a local young man wouldn't come home to play for the O's. 8 years at 160 still would have been 20 million short.

Tex is a PU$$Y!!! Excuse my language but I can't stand these athletes who always say I just want to play for a winner. Show some balls and make the team you play for a winner. They all take the easy way out and follow the money of the Skankees and the Dead Sox.

These star players all want to be paid like "the guy" however none of them want the responsibility of being "the guy".

Baseball is an absolute joke. Those 2 teams should just go play in their own league since the whole world of baseball revolves around those franchises. I belive that ESPN thinks those are the only 2 teams in baseball the way they cover the sport. It makes me want to puke.

I'm a Oriole fan in the heart of Yankee land (Northern NJ). The Skankees and their fans make me sick to my stomach. Today just makes matters worse.

In case you wonder why I'm posting here is because the Yankees signing every top notch free agent represents what is wrong with baseball and it's leadership today. How can any franchise hope to compete with the Evil Empire buying up every outstanding ball player. It's total greed by the city that leads the nation in greed.

Boras, Selig and the Steinbrenners are ruining MLB. It has become a farce and personally I will NEVER pay to go to a major league game again as long as any of the three of them are involved. It has become total greed!!!
I have already files a complain with the Commissioner office asking for his resignation.
I think a movement should start to avoid spending our hard earned money to support these three.
If you feel the same here is the address and phone number of the commissioners office.

Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
Phone: (212) 931-7800

Alright, I'm still an O's fan, and I'm still going to the games next year. They called my bluff. Although, I really wish no one would have ever said that we were going after Teixeira or that he said he wanted to be an Oriole. I hope McPhail makes the right moves to bring the this team out of its funk, but I'm still going to boo the crap out him when he comes to town.

This is the darkest day in baseball since Whitey Ford was killed by a barrage of pretzels.

That's it. I'm done with baseball.

Texeira is a hypocrite. Boras is a pig. And the O's FO and Angelos have just probably lost well over a thousand fans today.

I'm done. I wish the O's well in the future. I will not be a part of that journey.

This is my last post here.

Beibg that the Rays won this year certainly doesn't mean the O's can pull off the same thing. It addition how long before the Yankees and Red Sox start battling over the Rays free agents.

And I only say I'm going to boo him, because I feel a little like he played this town, and as a native I don't like being played with. He had no intention of coming here.

I'm over my initial let's bean Mark mood. But now it's time to decide what to do next. If I'm the O's, I try to trade for Swisher from the Yankees to play 1B. They don't need him now and he is still young and can play 1B for us for several years.

MLB teams need to do something about the income disparity. Most of it comes from the Yanks tv contracts. The Yanks say they dont have to share money, since it is their tv contract. But they dont play themselves. There are two teams in the game and the other team should get half the revenue for each game they play in. Some team needs the balls to just forfeit a game in Yankee stadium, to show them what would happen if they didnt have an opponent...no ticket revenue, no concessions, no parking, no merchandise sales and no tv advertising. The Yanks would have nothing if the other team wasnt there. Time to get them to share the revenue they make from the other teams.

Jilted. He went for the glamor and the bucks. Never really blamed the Moose - that was different -- he gave us great years.
Not sure how I'll feel about Tex down the road, might be some relief in going to boo him, he'll have his lights and his huge bucks. Arod has big bucks and glamor, Manny's got Manny, but neither will ever be Cal or Brooks or Frank. Hope we sign Brob and Nick. Does Boras drive a big Caddie with whitewalls, Rock?

"We could have gone the same route as the Nationals," said a team official, "and it would have ended the same."

Sure, you might not have gotten Teixeira, but at least you might have looked like you were trying. How do you expect fans to care if you don't?

looking forward to seeing Texiera's career go down the same path as Jason Giambi. Fingers crossed that he is loudly booed when he comes home to play against the O's.

Not even sure if there's a reason to watch baseball this year. These aren't Kevin Brown and Carl Pavano-style signings for the Yankees.. they have really loaded up with some quality players. Yankees will have the '09 Mercenary Row.

I can't really blame Teixeira for this anyway.. the economy is in recession. Can't imagine how you could survive with only 20 million a year.

MacPhail's quote basically says it all: "We can't devote that many resources to one player, no matter where he's from," MacPhail said. "It doesn't work that way for us. We have to follow the model of consistently good organizations like the Twins. We just can't devote that much payroll to one player."

I agree with it 100%. We're on the right course. It's not the end of the world.

The Yankees greed is killing baseball. If they win the world series next year there should be an asterisk next to the win. How is thier money different then steriods, it is all an unfair advantage.

The orioles should asked to be moved to the AL Central.

Despite the success of Tampa this season, the reality is that only three teams are being completely blocked from a fair chance to compete on a regular basis. That would be Tampa, Toronto and the Orioles. I doubt MLB will seek serious alterations to the system for the benefit of three teams in a league of 30.

Look,
Tex never had any intention of coming to Baltimore. We have to accept that and move on. The guy is scummier than Boras (what do you expect from a Mt. St. Joe grad?...just kidding). I look at the Yankees and see a lot of "big names" and big money, but I don't see stats and I see a potential for a lot of injuries. The Yanks are getting old and have virtually no farm system. The O's have youth and a budding farm system...and our offense isn't too shabby either. Sure, we'll get smoked this year by the Yanks...but we should be able to compete with any other team.

Patience young grasshoppers. Patience.

I said it back in July, and I still believe it now. While it would be nice for the O's to get Tex, and while I'd love to see it happen, is it really worth spending that much on 1 guy for a team that is so far away from being consistently competitive? No.

I don't care if the guy was my brother, best friend, neighbor, etc. The O's need to spend 180 million on some consistent starting pitchers, and to get a bigger presence in the Caribbean, Asia, etc.

Those of you who are giving up on baseball/The O's, etc. I'll bet you were the same ones saying that when we didn't sign Vladdy, and I'm glad we did. Look at all Tejada, Palmerio, Lopez, and that great revamped bullpen got us, woo nothing. But you all should be ashamed of yourselves, it's ridiculous to give up on a team because of that.

But hey, I'll take your seats at the Yard, and enjoy some baseball.

I agree 100% with Andy. I'm not dissappointed with their efforts, I'm actually surprised with how serious their pursuit was. I would have loved to have Tex, but thought he was a long shot.

Nothing would be sweeter though, than another 3rd place finish by the Yankees all $423+ mill worth.

Roch- Nick is OUR REAL HOMETOWN KID!! Lock him up. Pitching wins championships. Tex don't heat up til august anyway.
Also, maybe I am going to hell butt, its actually worth it I think to say, would anyone really be upset if the Yankee team bus accidentally slid off the GW bridge? Oh, and all the yankees are on it. Did I mention the water is freezing? Oh, then the gas line leaks into the water and ignites.

Roch, now is the time move B-Rob. I know that some of the less reasonable O's fans will scream at this idea. There is little chance of signing him long term before ST. Do you think the Yanks would be willing send Hughes, Kennedy, and a couple of more for a leadoff man?

Hey Roch,

I knew it was coming, but I'm still heartbroken.

I honestly can't blame the guy. He had a choice between an organization that has been the poster child for dysfunctional going on 12 years now or an organization where he may end his 8 year deal with 8 rings.

I wonder what Mussina's thinking right now?

OK Roch, chin up and let's focus on some good stuff. You and everyone here have a great Christmas.

"We could have gone the same route as the Nationals," said a team official, "and it would have ended the same."

And we don't have to follow the model of the Minnesota Twins. We are capable of having a higher payroll than they are. We have a brand spanking new stadium (at least compared to the Twins) and have had payrolls of 80-90 million.

I'm glad AM knows who won the AL East this year. Does he also know that the Red Sox and Yankees have basically been locks for the post season the past decade? Or maybe he's just saying in ten years, we'll have a chance at making it to the World Series. Gee, thanks but no thanks.

The only reason they would be devoting that much payroll to one player is because their payroll is the lowest is has been in years. Got rid of almost 20 million in Jay Payton, Daniel Cabrera, and Ramon Hernandez.

I'm glad he would much rather have 4 Jay Payton's at 5 million each, instead of a real difference maker in Tex, or whoever else.

It's hard not to join the ranks of those cynics, who claim that the O's put-in a calculated underbid - just enough to tell the fans that they tried. Look at the Washigton National, whose fan base is weaker than that of the O's, and yet they battled and battled for Teixeira's services. Now they're talking about pursuing the Rays model. Does that mean that the fans should get ready for eight years of last place finishes?

MacPhail reminds us of the Twins. The Yankees and Red Sox have won 6 of the world series since the Twins got one and the yankees have been in a couple of other world series. i am not arguin that they should throw $180 mil around to one guy, but to model yourself after the twins is not a whole lot better. i would take the playoffs at this point, but the reality is you play for championships, not for a good showing every year. the orioles have worn me down. i'm tired of being asked to be patient - finish over .500 once in 12 years and then let's discuss patience

Shaq Attaqer

To heck with the MLBPA, MLB needs a salary cap.

What a joke this franchise is and has been! The O's couldn't devote the resources one player? That is a flat lie!! Then why offer $20mil. over 7 seasons? Don't say you can't when you definitely can with plenty to spare. The payroll is relatively low already and with Baez, Huff and Mora coming off the books after this season, the payroll would be the SAME! Don't talk to fans as if we are stupid. This justification is one of the myriad of reasons this franchise has been laughed at by other teams executives for the last 11 yrs.

The O's had a GOLDEN opportunity to turn the tide that has gone on for far too long and FAILED miserably again. Angelos will go down as the worst owner in franchise history. You don't believe me? All evidence is in my corner. Oh, go ask Vero Beach what they think of the O's and their negotiating tactics? BUSH LEAGUE ORGANIZATION

Well that's that. Now let's go out a get some pitching, add that veteran catcher and get back to "The Plan". All those who are jumping ship, I'm sure we'll see you guys in 3 yrs or so.

Hey Roch are they going to add another bat or just place Huff at 1st and put Freel out in left and Scott in the DH spot?

It will be interesting to see how fast the market moves now.

Thanks for covering this fiasco! MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and the fam!

Roch

I just wanted to thank you for your coverage throughout all of this. You've put up with a lot of crap and all you've done is report the facts, exactly what a reporter is to do. Most people that were complaining just didn't like to hear what you were reporting. Again, THANK YOU!

My biggest problem about cutting the payroll the way we have and not being aggressive in trying to sign MT is the message it sends our current Boras clients and players approaching free agency.

Right or wrong it creates the perception that AM will do less than everything he can to win. Without a doubt Weiters and Markakis were watching this as closely as we were and are already thinking of whom they'll player for next.

In my humble opinion, Roberts, Weiters, Markakis and Jones will all leave via free agency because the reality is they want their team to win in free agency as much as on the field.

I honestly see the Orioles becoming the Marlins of the American League. Trading ML talent for prospects instead of being aggressive to fill the gaps on your ML roster to win with and growing talent to support them. We'll just grow talent to trade or send out via free agency for someone else to win with.

I hope Weiters and Markakis like New York.

I don't fault the Orioles on this one. I fault MLB.
A big part of what I have always enjoyed about baseball is the offseason. I love tracking trades, signings, and prospects. Needless to say that the past several years have been less than enjoyable. One team should not be able to dominate the top free agent signings. It's not good for baseball. It ruins the excitement of the offseason for all the fans of the other teams.

I know a lot of people will point to the Tampa Bay Rays, but come on. How many years were the Rays horrible before they accumulated all the top draft picks that made the competitive?

The system that gives the top draft picks to the teams with the losing records has helped level the playing field. That's great and I'm happy that it has worked for the Rays, but another system needs to be put in place to help level the playing field when it comes to free agents.

So he is telling us he wasn't even trying. Nice. I hope the O's keep Wieters in AAA all year. I might go see a few games. At least they have a chance.

Roch, thanks for getting McPhail's reaction. I know you are glad this is over with. I look forward to new topics!

Roch thanks for all the work you have put into this fiasco the last few weeks.

I think I have learned the following from this.

First there is still a rabid fanbase wanting this team to become a contender again. There have been alot of us who have been riding an emotional roller coaster thru this hoping they could get it done.

Second the Orioles were never serious about getting Tex, the fact they had the lowest offer on the table and the only team to not offer the 8th year says it all. It seems to me that this was just a token offer to appease the fanbase, expecting a hometown discount is delirious thinking, why would someone take less money to come to a losing franchise.

I understand if they are not willing to got to a level of 8/180 for one player, but why have the offer of 7/150 out there, there is not that much difference in yearly salary and Tex is the kind of player were you should be willing to at least match an offer of the yanks or sox. If you offer 8/180 and he spurns us for the yanks at least the fans can see that you tried your best and he didnt want to play here.

I had faith that MacPhail can slowly bring us back to contention but there is no reason to believe that signing TEx for 8/180 would not move us much further along in the rebuild.

So we have spent the last month plus twisting in the wind for something that was never going to happen, and now we have even more holes than before. With MacPhail's speed at making moves, and the names being mentioned its hard not to lose faith.

I will continue to bleed black and orange but have to say I have never had more doubt about my beloved orioles.

Roch,

Thanks for shooting it to us straight throughout this whole process. I should have trusted you all along and not let my inner-fan take over and create such a huge feeling of disappointment.

Thanks for all you do,

Chris

lets be honest. for tex it was always about the $$ and secondly, about winning. The yanks and sox offered both, but the yanks ultimately won with the $$.

All of the talk about wanting to come here was really just about Boras trying to lure more bidders to give himself more leverage and to up the bidding.

Maybe someday the O's will be competitive enough to at least be viewed as a potential winner, and to address the second priority, but now the only way they can land Type A free agents is to over pay, and as we just saw, Hank Steinbrenner has deeper pockets and will always beat any bid for a player that he covets.

Why can't we devote that much payroll? Its true the Orioles have less revenue than the Yankees but thats onlu half the equation. The other half is cost. Income equals revenue minus cost. The Yankees have very high revenue and very high cost. The Orioles have decent revenue and low cost. For the six years 2002-2007 the Orioles had the third highest income in all baseball. In fact over these six years their income(see Forbes) was 270 million higher than the Yankees. The Yankees are a need desperate to wim, The Orioles already awash in money are desperate to make more for the owner.

If the Orioles thought the price for Tex was too much why weren't they all over Dunn, Sheets, and Burnett.

We will come out of this with a light hitting shortstop, two very mediocre pitchers a backup catcher, and a low payroll. With a lot of good free agents , huge money available, and lots of needs we will have failed.

All depends on the development of our young pitchres, something we've been spectacularly unsuccessful at thus far. If they fail we won't win before 2025. For those of you who want to develop through the draft ask yourselves why with ten years of high draft picks our farm teams finish far behind those of the Yankees and Red Sox.

Its time to boycott the Orioles totally now.

If Texeira received the best offer from the Yankees, and that is where he ended up, then good for him. Here is the problem, and it is nothing you have not said 1,000 times over the last 2-3 weeks, Roch. We will never know if it was the best deal or not because the Orioles were never forthright with the fans.

I would have had a much different opinion about this whole thing if Andy McPhail would have come out and told the fans that he offered 7-years for $150 million, and that was as high as the Orioles could possibly go. At least that way, everyone knew what the Orioles were doing and we would not have to sit around awaiting the excrutiating results. Make Tex the bad guy here. No, instead McPhail did what every Orioles yes man has done for the last 11 years. He baited the fans into believing the Orioles were going to be serious about signing Tex. Now he will come up with 1,000 excuses for why the Orioles lost out in the sweepstakes.

I had considered purchasing a season ticket plan if the Orioles could pull this off. Now I don't have to worry about it anymore. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Roch: You might be the next to go. They laid off workers from Gameday because they could not afford them, loose out on MT because it was not the direction of the club and you might be next. Watch out. There may be nothing to talk about except the minor league games in baltimore. . . .

lets see now lets go after millar he,s funny plays first bats 230/15-20 homers a couple over the hill picthers then we,ll be set. then you wounder why the ball park is almost empty.

I don't know who to blame:

Scott Boros (slime dog)
Yankees
MT
PA
AM
or maybe Major League Baseball as a whole headed up by loser Bud Selig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a joke of a league. If you did this in fantasy baseball you would be thrown out!!

There all hoes!

Roch,

Now that this whole mess is over, can you please tell me why the Orioles haven't been in negotiations with Adam Dunn at all this winter? The guy is 28, hits 40 homers a year, has a .380 career obp, and hasn't been pursued nearly like you think he would've been. If the O's aren't interested in him can you please tell someone in the warehouse that they should be?

At this point, could Angelos sell this team and put out of our misery. At some point, enough is enough. I think we have finally reached that point.

MLB is a joke. I talked with a Yakee friend of mine this afternoon - and he told me he is not at all that excited because their payroll takes all the challenge out of cheering for the team. Seriously, the only upset is if they don't win - you won't see any of the national media talking about the joke MLB has become - because they make their living covering it. The Yankees make the run to the World Series almost meaningless...I know I will pay less and less attention to baseball from this point on. I do not blame the Orioles at all---Boras is a joke, Tex was about money - as far as the ring goes - it's basically a meaningless championship when you have to sepnd 7 and 8 times more payroll then other teams "competing" for the same championship...good for you Mark - here's hoping you choke on it and get swallowed by NY. I love baseball - but teams like the yankees and people like Boras have taken over what was once a wonderful sport.

Roch
O's and Nats were never in it! Why in the world would anyone want to come to the O's and play! For what? It also appears the O's were never really interested in getting him. Their initial bid was never followed up. Did McFail get any ex O's to contact Tex - of course not! Did they ask Palmer or Brooks or Cal to get involved by talking to Tex - I think not! McFail doesn't even talk a good game anymore! “We have some flexibility” - what does that mean? We are all waiting for our minor league system to produce some pitchers that are going to appear 3 years hence and save as all from last place! Is that the gospel according to McFail? We continue to bottom feed in the free agent market and that will really get the fan base excited! We sign Izturis – that move sure will bring the fans out. In the mean time, Markakis and Roberts are looking at the lack of progress and if I’m in their shoes I’m going to want to get out of town!

They always have excuses. Ok we didnt get him- we probably had no chance. Buts lets spend some serious money on some other players. This team cant keep comparing itself to the Twins when were supposed to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox.

This team said when it got the MASN network we would see the money spent on players. So far all I see is cutting payroll. They never cut ticket prices, and they make phony offers to the big free agents. If Angelos cant spend like he needs to- then sell the team if anyone would still want this sorry franchise.

The big commerical for ths off season is the uniform change. You need players in the uniforms to have a winning team and a product people want to see.
Roch- any idea if they will go after any other semi-big free agents- or attempt to acquire any potential free agents in a trade. Even the A's acquired Matt Holiday. This team would be champs if all they had to do was talk a good game.

I don't blame the Orioles for not getting Tex. I honestly didn't think we had a legitimate shot. What really gets me angry isn't that the Yankees signed him but the way it happened. This reminds me of when Vlad Guerrero was a FA and everyone thought he was gonna be an Oriole because we had alot of money coming off the books and the Angels swooped in out of nowhere to sign him. I think Boras' quote about Tex being enamored with the Orioles was just a ploy hoping O's fans would beseige Andy McPhail into increasing the Orioles bid. I don't think Boras or Tex wanted anything to do with Baltimore or Washington except to use them to increase the bidding. At least now we can look forward to signing some pitching and hopefully Greg Zaun.

By the way, GREAT JOB keeping us informed Roch! Look forward to being in "school" all off-season.

MacFAILS reaction should be one of embarrassment.
Boy you really tried hard Andy....way to go Andy. I guess we are going to be active this winter Andy? We are going to go after starting pitching right Andy?

McFAIL you were fired from Minnesota, Ran out of Chicago and Baltimore is a blue collar town where we want to be told the truth, not what you think we want to hear. So take your lies and carnival act and move on to the next team....you wore you welcome out here.

Cant sign Tex, cant negotiate a contract extension with Brob, Markakis broke off talks twice already...what is your excuse going to be when you dont sign them.....I tried fans...SIncerly

ANDY

I think Andy did it right. He made enough of an offer to gage Tex's interest. Now that it is over Andy needs to start rebuilding this team. I just hope they spend this $20mil/yr allocated in the Tex offer and not just put it back in their pockets.

I can't really blame Andy for this. I wish he had been more aggressive and offered the 8-year $160 millionish type of offer the Nats did in the beginning and shown some real interest in Tex, but at the same time I can't forgive Tex for doing this ever.

He must never have been an Orioles fan because there is no way anyone who ever was could accept an offer from The Yankees when there are similar offers from other clubs sitting on the table. I'd rather see him with Boston than New York any day.

Andy also needs to realize that The Twins, at their most competitive, have been playing against the Tigers (who weren't decent until 3 years ago), The White Sox (who also are only turning heads inside the last 5 years) and the Indians who haven't been dominant since The Orioles were in the 90's (yeah they were good two years ago but seriously, The Browns have fluke seasons once in a while). Those teams are not The Yankees and The Red Sox and never will be.

This is a different division and Andy needs to realize that while he wants to "build" a franchise, those teams will go out and buy one every year and always will be able to. It will take 4 years of finishing dead last in MLB and getting #1 picks that actually pan out before the "build the farm system" model produces a decent team, let alone a contender in this division. Now that The Rays are good, I don't see The O's ever contending...

It's sad to say, but a salary cap is the only way to contend, and the Players Union will never let that happen... I can't wait 10 more years for a winning season, but I don't have a choice because I'm a real fan and real fans don't jump ship. That's what most Yankee fans are, and they're the scum of the Earth.

This is the MLB site to write and demand a salary cap....vent some anger their way. Until MLB creates real balance none of this will change.

The O's can build a farm system and grow their own players all day long but then the evil empire just has to write a blank check and sweep them up.

Change the system of greed...regulate it just like Wall Street needs regulation.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/help/contact_us.jsp

All I want for Christmas is for
Mr Angelos to sell the team......PLEASE

Roch - Thanks for all of the coverage through this ordeal. So any idea who Tex signs with in 2016? What are the O's chances?

I can think of about 20 ball players id rather give that money to. It woulda been great to see him here but he is not worth that kinda cash.

I don't blame the Orioles. Teixeira played everyone for a big contract, and when the Yankees offered it, he took it. No further counters and bids. I think he'd have signed with either Boston or NY, preferably NY, but had no interest in anyone else. He knew they'd pay top dollar, and by being post-season threats he earns more money in post-season bonuses. I was naive for not expecting it, after his track record (not signing out of high school because $1.5M wasn't enough, getting a record deal out of Texas when he did sign out of college, showing no interest in an extension in Texas, or Atlanta, or LAA).

I despise the Yankees more than ever. $1.3B new stadium, chock full of insanely high-priced seats and luxury boxes. Cheating on land evaluation to qualify for more public funding. Going back and requesting an additional $360M in public-financed debt. Then throwing $423M (and counting) at free agents. The Yankees are a microcosm of why our economy has gotten into trouble. They deserve bankruptcy and decades of losing.

Thanks for allowing my rant (and adding it to a long list).

roch,
Let me guess now all of a sudden Andy likes Millar for first base. If I was Kevin, I would tell Andy.......

The sixth and 21 letter in the Alphabet

and move on!

Same ole same here in Baltimore. Nothing new this off season from last. A bunch of promises and NOTHING to show for it!

But the Kool Aid keeps a flowing! Like crack to an addict some of these fools keep begging for more from this owner

Why are we blaming everything on the O's front office. Let's take a look at how greddy tex is and the reality that he did want to play here at all.

The sun will come out tomorrow.With that said, the Orioles will be ok.But Mark Teixeira's family will catch hell for this.And he joins the top 5 of the most hated people in Baltimore including;Robert Irsay,Paul "Go build a Museum" Tagliabue,Peter Angelos and well not a Person but Mayflower Moving Company.

I ama not going to lose a wink of sleep over this. Too much money for an additional 25 BA points and 12 HR's over somebody who will cost 25% of that.

I may have been premature in predicting the Yankees demise. However...Sabathia merely replaces Mussina's wins and AJ may give way to roblemspay with armnay.

We'll see.This makes it more enjoyable to kick the Yankees a#$.

The problem with the Orioles is that they made their own bed years ago. It turns out that they never stood a chance. Maybe if they were finally turning the corner, Tex might have wanted to be the guy. But why be A-Rod going to Texas?

I have thought baseball was flawed far before this offseason in which the Yankees signed the 2009 free agent market. Selig is a myopic and weak commissioner that allows the dollar to drive all of his decisions. He is a clown.

To the peanut gallery- how are we going to "spread out all of that extra money"? Seriously? Bigtime bucks on Redding who was every bit as terrible as D-Cab without the ability to injure division opponents? That stud Looper? Wouldn't want to to test Sheets as he has an upside.

Izturis better have a breakout year. :)

Mr Angelos
WE HATE YOU and EVERYTHING you stand for!

Hi Roch,

Guess most of us have seen that Mr. Maryland told New York that he wanted to go with them all along? That "want to be an Oriole" talk was nothing more than a nice thing to say. Never had substance. I really don't believe the FO blew this. There never was anything to blow.

Time to see what the kids can do and look forward to a couple more years of top 5 draft picks! As far as i'm concerned, Tex didn't deserve to be an Oriole. I have a bad feeling that BRob may not extend and will be gone by the trade deadline?

Where's Bud Selig when you want to kick him. Not really, I just want him running next to a moving car like Marley for what he has done for baseball.

Tex seems to be like all the others, run to the BIG NAME teams and get the BIG BUCKS in return.

So Roch, When will the MLB use salery caps like the NFL?

The O's are not in a position to attract such free agents yet. Gone are the days when Baltimore was a preferred destination for the talented players on the open market. Stick with the plan, Andy. It would have felt great to see Tex launching balls onto the flag court next summer, and there are plently of good reasosn to have signed him. The fact is, these resources are better spent elsewhere in the organization.

For all of their money, the Yankees are still incredibly grounded in home-grown players - Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Cano, Wang, Chamberlain, Pettitte, etc. The O's need to develop this kind of foundation before they go shopping.

The Yankees' unlimited resources make it not so fun to be a baseball fan. I'm still glad the O's didn't succumb to the braying of the fans and spend more than they can afford on a player no one here would care about if he wasn't from Severna Park. He's a fine baseball player, but he's no A-Rod, and even A-Rod turned out not to be worth A-Rod money.

So much for Teixeira wanting to play for his home town team. Did anyone out there actually think he was serious? Not me, not for one minute. It is all about greed with the ball players of today and the yankees are quickly acquiring a lot of greedy players. I guess the question is...do a lot of greedy players on one team = world series champions...I think not...too many egos in one spot means nothing but a headache and lets hope lots of losses for the hated yankees. It amazes me how much money the yankees are willing to spend to stop the embarassment of losing year after year...and with that payroll embarassing is what it is. Here's hoping for a happy new year for anyone other than the yankees!

I say three cheers for MacPhail. What the heck is Steinbrenner going to do next free agent season if the Skankees don't make the playoffs or win the WS this year? Their payroll will be one billion big ones.

I say screw Teixiera. Screw Steinbrenner. Screw Boras. Screw MLB. Screw Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith. Screw Bud Selig. Screw Vin Scully. Screw ESPN. Screw Peter Schmuck.

Oh yeah, and screw the horse they rode in on!

The Os spin machine is in full gear now that they have been exposed again as an organization devoted to one thing ...PROFIT for Angelos. As Os fans take out their anger, again misdirected, at Boras and Texeira, they should come to grips with the reality, Boras and Texeira were the only honest brokers in this entire fiasco. Boras did his job he allowed everyone to make an offer, gave them ample time to adjust their offer, met with all interested parties and then took the best deal available, which is what Texeira pays Boras to do. Texeira gave us plenty of time to make a legitimate offer, and we didn't. We made an offer we knew was woefully short, just as we did several years ago in the Vlad debacle. The only two liars in this entire mess were Angelos and Macphail. They lied about being interested in Tex and Burnett, the latter they made no offer, and the former they made the weakest offer. It isn't that Tex didn't want to come here, it was the Os and their cast of scam artist and frauds who claimed they were going to be players in the FA market that lied. Just one more scam to fool the Os fans into believing there is light at the end of the tunnel. So now the spin begins, enabled by a media and press corps that is too close to the organization and never holds them accountable. That is another reason why this doesn't happen every year in NY and Boston, their fans and press would boil them alive if they had an 11 year losing streak. No one says spend as much as the Yanks do, but spending nothing!!!!!! If I was advising Roberts and Markakis and any other player with an iota of talent in this organization it would be "get the hell out of here as soon as you can"! The Os are the equivalent of baseball vomit, useless, and nothing left but stench and a stain. Prepare yourself for 55 to 65 wins this year and every year. Tex did what anyone of us would have done, more money, more years, no trade clause and win right away, and the point here is other than win right away, we could have offered him the same deal, and we chose not to and to be the Detroit Lions of baseball. As long as Angelos owns the team we'll endure this mess with the only thing changing is which lackey, right now MacPhail, will be the one to deliver the latest lie and spin. Ok, now lets go out and get Tim Redding...take that Yanks!

You are the man Andy MacPhail!!! This is a guy that knows how to build a winning FRANCHISE. He is still set on his ways of rebuilding this organization from the ground up and I applaud his efforts to this point. MacPhail saying he is flexible to Scott Boras. AM is a guy that knows how to play this game well. Some classify Boras as "the smartest guy in the room". If he and MacPhail are never in the same room than maybe that is true, otherwise my money would always be on MacPhail. He learned this business from a hall of famer and he is going to return Baltimore to one of the elite places to play.

I actually love that the Yankees got this guy. They didn't win when they had Mussina and now the got the hometown guy from B'more. As long as they keep signing these people associated with Baltimore their team will have to settle for being eliminated in the playoffs.

I love hating the Yankees almost as much as I love rooting for the Orioles. Tonight my hatred for them grew. I also have some sort of weird admiration for them too though, just because they can go out and buy whatever they want, couldn't we all be so lucky.

So here is to all the true Baltimore fans out there, I'm speaking for you right now when I say "Hey Tex! No ring for YOU!!!"

bottom line...

O's fans need to pack the Yard during the opening series (and every series against the Yanks for that matter), and make sure Teixeira understands just how much we "appreciate" him becoming a Yankee.

the boos should be so loud that you cannot even hear the P.A. guy let us know who is coming to bat!

Hey Mark,

make sure to ask A-Rod how his days in NY have been so far... and if you can find him, ask Mike Mussina how his days were... by the way, just how many championships have they won while wearing pin stripes? oh yeah, that'd be ZERO!!!!! we'll see you in a couple of years when we pass you on our way to the top! at least you'll have the money... but it wasn't about that.

Roch-
As attractive as Mark T is as a player, let's face it, no one would be in mourning if he was say, from Fargo ND. The Orioles have been so bad so long they need a long term plan, not another hitter who would transform a 10-6 loss into a 10-8 loss. We need pitching, now and in the future. Mr McPhail, offer B Rob a reasonable extension; if not, then trade him. Please extend Nick M and then continue on the path to having a team that wins the way Brooks et al did: pitching, defense, and timely hitting. In case anyone forgot how this was done, please ask Jim Palmer---I think he would be of help.

I mean I can understand not signing with the Os but the Yankees?!??! They should have kept Cabrera just to plunk him the first time they meet. I suppose Sarfate would suffice, can he break 100mph?

Now everyone step back and take a deep breath. The guy was never coming here, When he hired Boras that made it clear. The answer was money and he wanted lots of it. Is he worth 180 million? Is anybody worth that much money? I wish him well with his money and I hope it brings him happiness. We should continue to do what we have done for the last three years. We didn't get in this mess in a day and we will not get out of it anytime soon.. Don't like it? Don't buy a ticket.

I have been a fan of basball and the Orioles since I was 5 Years old and I will never attend another baseball game again. The reference to the Rays was a joke... they caught lightning in a bottle and we will see where they are next year. By the way...how long did it take them to get there?? I'm not willing to wait another 11 years. I am going to spend my money and time in better places basball just isn't worth it anymore.

One question - if the orioles can't lure the hometown boy home - who are they going to sign. Who else are you going to get for $20MM? You would be lucky if you could lure Amad Dunn here for that!

Fairwell Orioles

"We could have gone the same route as the Nationals," said a team official, "and it would have ended the same."

Whoever said that is exactly right. That greedy jerk isn't worth it. Just having Boras as his agent should tell you that money and some bizarre concept of prestige and lots of both are all that Tex cared about. Jeremy Guthrie fired Boras as his agent during the winter meetings. That also speaks volumes.

Let's face it - at what the Yanks are paying, he's simply not worth it. Besides, he would have demanded to be traded before long as we continued our mediocrity.

Just because he grew up here and was once one of us, doesn't mean he still is one of us. Tex is motivated by money and "fame". Sad? Very. Enjoy NY, Tex - ask Mussina how his world series ring fits. You are no son of Maryland, Mark Texiera.

Who's to blame, Roch? How about no one!!! Remember the Rangers with A-Rod? Neither does anyone else. They were a bad team WITH him, and got a little better (not by much) WITHOUT him. Why? Their pitching was awful. And now they're paying for him to play with the Yankees. We'd wind up scoring more runs, but this club can't pitch its way out of a paper bag right now beyond Guthrie. I was against signing him from the start. Does it hurt to see him wind up in pinstripes? You bet. But, wouldn't it also hurt to see him play here on a potentially last-place team? A-Rod sure thought so. TEX ISN'T CAL. NO ONE IS, AND NO ONE EVER WILL BE AGAIN. The game has changed too much since Cal. It's just a fact. Plenty of winning teams get by just fine without any hometown players, but no team wins without quality pitching. I don't care where you're from, I just care that you want to play HERE!

I am ticked at Teixeira for choosing the Yankees. I am ticked at MLB for allowing a system to continue that does not allow any team, save three or four, a chance at signing free agents. We need a hard salary cap at $100 million. Yankees had to pay their $27 million dollar luxury tax today...let's see that is less then $1 million per team. Yeah...that is really going to help small market teams complete. What a complete joke.

I cannot be mad at Angelos or McPhail. I believe there was virtually nothing they could have done to sign Teixeira. It was obvious he was in for the money and a winning program. I do not believe Teixeira would have signed in Baltimore for 10 years and $200 million.

Let him enjoy New York...hope that team continues to fail big time.

For the Orioles, this may end up being a better no sign as we should have the money to extend Markakis and Roberts.

Go Orioles!

Ok now that Teixeira is not coming here, us Orioles Events Staff extra's can get their games back.

Excuses are for losers. The Nationals with very little revenue and a high debt rate after buying the club out bid us. Once again we have made a bid to appease the fans that we knew wouldn't be accepted. Peter ,when you bought the Orioles you referred to them as a public trust and you have now totally lost the public's trust. Please sell and get out.

Have a good Xmas Roch.

The O's never had a chance, neither did Baltimore, Serverna Park, Mt. St. Joe, or anyone. But you can't blame them for trying. To EVEN think they were in the running didn't fool McPhail, or Henry in Boston. He's going to get the "Bonds Treatment" each time he comes to the plate, even in his "hometown" area. Tex got his Christmas wish, NOW IT'S TIME FOR US TO GET OURS!!!!

Opening Day, 2009, Camden Yards, top of the 1st, BRob drops a drag bunt towards the 2nd baseman, CC charges and so does Tex. CC trips over his belly and falls on his right shoulder and does major damage to it. He rolls up Tex's legs and breaks his ankle doing major damage. BRob is safe a first base. Stinebrenner jumps out of his skybox and grabs Cashman on the way down. Both land on top of the Yankee dugout, the O's bring out a dump truck to take them all to the hospital. HO, HO, HO.

P.S. AJ starts second game and tears his reconstructed elbow.

If there is a Santa, he'll make that wish come true.

Let's look at this from another point of view...

BAL- 72 Mil.- Most expensive contract in club history

NY - 80+ Mil.- 4th or 5th highest contract on their team

What is wrong with this picture????

I bleed Black and Orange but something must be done. Could we please get a salary cap?

Jesus people, don't be so melodramatic. "I'm done with baseball" "I hate the Orioles now" Give me a break.

So we lost one of the most over priced free agents in recent history. The signing would have crippled the Orioles ability to sign other players in the future. We are finally on a good track with the minor league system and pumping out some prospects, why mess that up with an emotionally driven signing at a position that is flooded with talent in the majors. Tex was a nice to have, not a need to have.

Roch;
Let us put the blame squarely where it belongs. It is most certainly the fault of his parents. What did they teach this kid to value most growing up? It is obvious that tradition,love of friends, family & sense of home were undervalued in his household. I think his sense of values are a bit off center. It would seem that the only thing that really matters to this young man would be the Benjamin. I really don't want to here that line about having a chance to win a ring. That did not do Mussina any good. Personaly if I were his father, and a long time Orioles fan, I would be very disapointed in his decision. How much money does a person really need? Even though his bat would be awful nice the the #4 hole, I'm not real sure his values are needed on this team.

Well I'm not actually from Baltimore, so at this point, any sentimentality I have goes out the window. Tex signed with my least favorite team, so he instantly becomes one of my least favorite players in the league. I wish him a happy personal life, but on the playing field... nothing but failure and frustration.

What does being a Yankee fan even mean these days? Your team just buys up the entire sport. What fun is that? Until there is a salary cap (which won't come as long as Bud Selig is commish), MLB will be second-tier to the NFL.

This feels so Elway-esque, how long before The O's are in Indianapolis? By the sounds of all the disgruntled fans vowing never to return to The Yard then it won't be too long...

Roch,

Can you sponsor an informal contest among your posters to see who can come up with the best NY Post back page headlines when Tex starts slumping? I live up this way and it's going to do my heart good to pass by the NY Post in the checkout line at the grocery store and see an anguished Tex in pinstripes striking out with some classic Post headline, bold and in red, like "Tex(as) Fold'Em" or "Off the Mark." I'm sure your readers can come up with much better ones than that (and vent a little in the process)!

Baseball is now a bad sport. The union, owners, agents, media and players have ruined it. It doesn't matter if Tex came here or not. It was never about that. He went for the money, and so be it. But, the sport as a whole is increasingly becoming the laughing stock of professional sports. Why anyone would attend a game anymore is beyond me. I had season tickets for more then 20 years, but I can't imagine ever spending money to go to a game under the current system.

What needs to happen is that teams need to simply refuse to play the Yankees and Red Sox. Just don't show up, either at their stadium or at ours. Forfeit the games. Who cares. Why help them earn all that money, while they continue to prop up a system that benefits only them, and not the rest of the teams. Until there's a fair and balanced salary cap, baseball will continue to spiral into the the abyss it has created for itself.

Now, all that being said, will a fair and balanced system actually help the Orioles. Probably not under the current ownership, although AM seems to be a strong exec. But, at least if the system were fair and balanced, bad teams like the Orioles would not be able to blame the system for their ineptitude.

Anyway, let it go O's fans. Go RAVENS!!!

Hey, I'm not gonna disagree that baseball should have a salary cap but lets face it, it will NEVER happen... The rich get richer and the poor get poorer..... Just like America... You can't be mad at the Yankee's, they gave the man what he wanted... the Orioles didn't even come close... I don't think the Orioles ever wanted Teixeria for the following reason

Cuts into Peter Angelos profit- we all go to the stadium buy tickets, merchandise, popcorn, cotton candy, beer (which we are gonna be drinking alot of this year after the watching the team they are gonna be putting on the field) thats how the Orioles (Peter Angelos) makes money.. If he signed a franchise player, it would cut into his profit...

It's a real shame, but I don't hate the Yankees for this move..... you have to look at your Front Office and determine the real reason why...... which they say they didn't have a chance to counter and they couldn't anyways.... What a joke......... You don't expect us to believe that, since when doesn't Scott Boras except counter offers.....you gotta come up with something better than that, Andy......

Oriole fans you should already prepare yourselves for life without Brian Roberts........ he's gone

In addition, prepare yourselves for the next 8 years of depression..........

The whole system is set up for this. We should neither be surprised or depressed that Teixeira would take his fair market value. Baseball is a business, and in a (more or less) free market, the cream tends to rise to the top. The small market teams make money, the big market teams make money AND win. Everyone is happy as long as the money keeps coming in. We should not be surprised. Should we abandon all hope and give in to pessimism and despair? Not a chance. There's always hope. We just have to hope more than the big market teams do. O's in '??

Bring back 1B free agent Rafael Palmeiro. He's sitting at home in Texas and I'm sure we can get him pretty cheap.

My guess is he read this blog and after reading all the mean vindictive and sometimes stupid comments of so-called Oriole fans decided he could get the same in NY for more money and maybe a ring or two to boot.

The Rays won the AL East with a low payroll, so I am sick of hearing about the salary cap. Teams can compete and beat the Yanks if they make smart moves and sign the right guys at the right time. I think Tex was one of those right moves. It just didn't work out.

The Yanks are still a 3rd place team. They were supposed to score 1000 runs last year - what happened? This year, their bullpen is lousy and their fielders aren't any better than TB, BAL, or BOS.

Burnett will be injured at some point in the year and CC replaces Mussina. How did the Yanks improve themselves here?

I think a couple of years of developing players, then buying the guy like Pujols when he comes around is the right way to go - now that we can't get Tex. And who knows who else will be available in FA or by trade. That was The Plan to begin with and we seem to be sticking to that.

No, we're not the Twins, but the formula for building a winner is the same. I lived in CLE in 92 and 93. What horrible seasons watching Lofton, Baerga, and Belle lose. But in 94, they turned things around.

AM is a good GM and he'll build a winner here, too. But it is true that he's got to open the wallet more in the future.

Guys....don't get mad....take all that negative energy and direct it at Jacksonville on Sunday so that the team that cares about its fans (and vice versa) gets to the promised land and stomps some Jaguar ass!

This was not about just signing Mark Teixeira, it was about giving the loyal fans, those without a voice some hope. This was a local guy who could have easily been compared to Cal and Brooks in 10 years, it was a way of saying "We will imporve the ball club" and it was a way of saying "The fans matter". Instead we got the increasingly familiar "We never stood a chance" and "It does not follow our plan.

Here are my thoughts on just the few lines provide by Andy.....

(1) We need to follow the model of the Twins?- When do the O's move to the AL Central and I will be all aboard with that. The Twins last won in 91 Andy, that was 17 years ago! The Twins traded their best pitcher and let their star position player walk last year, maybe that was what Andy meant.

(2a) "Can't pay that much to one player"- bring players in with talent and you won't have such a desparity. Freel and Isturis do not count as "major" upgrades.

(2b) Again- then why make a known offer, tell people there would be some disappointment if he does not sign here, and then not aggressively persue it?

(2c) The O's had the highest payroll in baseball before the loosing started (1995 around 100 mil), last year was about 75, and this year will be around 60, next year will be even lower......... has ticket prices gone down? In 12 years the payroll has dropped nearly 50%, if Roberts stays.

(3) Andy is making reference to the fact that the Rays made it to the World Series last year? One of (only) two teams in the past ten years that were worse than the O's, had a 29 mil payroll and their average age was what? A team that MLB almost desolved because they couldn't draw and were poorly managed, years of #1-4 overall picks and after one good year you mention the Rays? Since we are being nostalgic here, what about the Tigers a few years ago? They beat the Twins you mention, but then again they have been aggressive since then and have increased payroll in a new stadium in a state with the highest unemployment rate. Good call not mentioning the Tigers.

It is a business now and no longer the baseball that I knew as kid in the early 70's in Baltimore. That was a great time when baseball was a passion, a way of leaving your cares behind when entering a ballpark, a way of rooting for the home team. Children were named after your fathers favorite player and those players were known simply by their 1st name (Boog, Brooks, Frank, or Ellie) or a nickname (the Blade). Those were great times and I miss them dearly.

Now it is all smoke and mirrors folks and it is that simple. We make excuses to the loyal fans and hope they do not see the truth. What will be the excuse when Roberts decides not to resign, will that be Roberts fault too? What about Markakis, will it be his fault?

The organization is a cash cow now with the stadium, the new sports network, and steady ticket prices and the lowering payroll. A GM whos last success came in the early ninety's and a wise owner who fooled people into paying for the stadium he plays in, fooled owners into guarenteeing his franchise selling price, fooled the commish into paying him for allowing another team to play nearby and fooled that same commish into ensuring the smart owner got a large cut of the new sports network. And today so many good fans have been fooled also. The excuses, lies and manipulations have to stop sometime, apparantly just not today.

It's time to sign Adam Dunn and Jon Garland.

Rob...... I'm so glad we are on the same page......

Any chance MLB can put us in the AL North? Make up a new division and take every team out of the AL East. Just leave Boston and New York in the AL East by themselves.

Even though we had another losing season in 2008, I thought the year was the first season that really mattered for something. It was Trembley's first full season and we got to watch many young guys develop. We have great young arms that are learning to pitch on the big league level and a nice mix of veterans to help.

This team lost a lot, but they learned a lot, too. Between 98 and 2007, the franchise seemed like Moses wandering through the desert. I don't think we knew what we wanted to do and Angelos kept getting in the way. Cal's departure left the team without an identity.

It seems that AM is leading the way now. He is not using the Orioles as a stepping stone to greater glory in BOS or LAA or NY. No. He's got a history here and he loves this town. He's staying here, and he wants to win as badly as all of us. No, I am not drinking the orange kool aid. I'm saying that I like the new direction.

Roch, I left Baltimore at 4pm today for Strongsville, OH. A suburb of Cleveland. (No Bill Cowher sightings yet!) I had 7 long hours in the car to think about all this. I banged the steering a while and yelled at rear view mirror. Ok, Tex is an enemy now. He should be booed from Camden Yards to the Severna Park Mall, but...

I can't help but think PA is pulling a Bob Ersay on Baltimore. Does he want to win? Is he purposely driving away the fan base and good talent? The movie Major League comes to mind (being near Cleveland, after all!) Is PROFIT all he cares about? But I don't want to hurt the team, either. I love the O's. I'm still wearing my Sherrill shirt and I'm getting a lot of grief over it, too.

If PA is a baseball idiot, fine. The posts here and history seem to indicate that. But if he's as guilty as Boras of greed and could care less for the Orioles, then he's gotta be financially boycotted. So, which is it? You can see, in this post, my confusion! Can we trust the Wharehouse? I will always root for the team, but should I continue lining Peter's pockets? Is this a valid concern?

Frustrated by week's events,
Steve

When the turtle raced the hare, he stuck his neck out to win,something the O's are too afraid to do.This team will never win when management sits on their hands.They are content signing utility men and pitchers who should be playing slo-pitch softball.McPhail came here as being our savior,and he hasn't shown me anything.Every pitcher he picks up has got a round trip ticket to Alabama to see Dr. Andrews.How can anyone get excited about HENDRICKSON and some of these other names I hear? What a joke.All other teams garbage.Now Andy prioritizes players that live in the MD area?what is this,American Legion ball?What a disgrace!It's gonna be another long, boring summer-hopefully you all boycott this travesty of a franchise!

Hey Roch,

Doug Stanhope said it best, "Rooting for the Yankees is like going to a casino and cheering for the house."

For everyone out there blaming Angelos & McPhail for not being aggressive enough in their pursuit of Mark, you are overlooking the 10,000 lb gorilla in the room - Angelos is not the sole owner of the Orioles. Rather, as I understand it, he is the general partner of a partnership comprised of several other investors who have all anted up a significant sum of money to own the Baltimore Orioles franchise. As the general partner, the buck probably stops with Angelos (although it is possible that he has to seek investor approval for certain "extraordinary" transactions). He has an obligation to his fellow investors to make them money. If he is reckless with their money and costs them money, then he could be responsible for the damages his fellow investors suffer. If this sounds like some lawyer's rationalization - it is, and that's how Angelos has been trained to think and it's how he's made his fortune over the past 50 years. Old habits die hard. I really wanted Mark to sign with the O's, as I'm sure most everyone else did, but the money was just crazy and the O's can't afford to overpay by $20M (ala the pinstriped whores - I can't bring myself to type their team name) to bring a player to Baltimore who obviously doesn't want to play here. There are a lot of factors that go into that. Syd thrift infamously complained about his "confederate money." It appears that we are back in that boat. The Miggy signing was supposed to change all of that, but it didn't. Ask yourself why a "hometown" boy wouldn't want to play here vs. New York, and maybe it will make more sense. There are always fans at New York games. Day, night, rain, shine, win, lose, the fans are in the stands - even though the stadium's in the bronx! The westside of Downtown Baltimore is Gibson Island compared to the Bronx's Curtis Bay. The NY social scene - there's always something to do. Granted, the Baltimore nightlife is fun, it all ends at 2 a.m. and if you don't live downtown, you've got to have someone drive you home (unless you want to leave earlier and risk your life on the light rail / metro). Opportunity - Tex will probably get Giambi's old Right Guard or Old Spice or whatever it was commercial spot and then some. Jeter's has Gatorade, Nike, probably a bunch more that I'm forgetting. A-ROD has NAMBLA, GLAAD, Cheater's Anonymous and some more I'm forgetting. There's opportunity to supplement income and build a career after baseball. Look at Charles Street - it's not exactly Madison Avenue. Just recently one of the bigger ad firms in town went bankrupt - and this was before the economic meltdown. Our only fortune 500 company had to pay $500M to terminate an Agreement and stay in town, albeit after selling it's most profitable assets to the French because French work ethic isn't an oxy-moron. Try as we might, we're not a first rate city. Someone has to look past the grime (and the mayor and the City Council President and the State's Attorney and the Governor, and the west side) to see the charms in charm city. If they're not willing to do that, then the O's aren't going to be able to sign them unless Angelos spends like a drunken sailor. He's a lawyer, so he's afraid of getting sued by his partners for behaving that way. Bottom line, pray that we extend Weiters, Nick, B-Rob Jones & guthrie. Pray that at least 3 of Matusz, Bergsen, Choyle, Arrieta, & Tillman pan out as #1's or #2's. And pray that when the O's get back to the national potlight, there's enough Orange and Black at the Yard so as to make Baltimore look like an appealing place to play. Then we'll sign Gavin Floyd and he can throw a 90some mph fastball in Mark's ear!

Time to realign the divisions. Put the rich teams together (angels, yanks, redsox) the middling (o's, bluejays, detroit, seattle) the low incomes (twins, rays, A's). That would make me to happy to go up against teams with equal budgets. could you imagine picking a fantasy league team where your buddy has $200 million to spend and you only have $50 mill? that is what baseball has come to. It's ridiculous.

it absolutely would have made a difference if the orioles did what the nationals did and really went after him. it would have showed the fans that they were serious about trying sign him. if the orioles would have made the exact same offer that the yankees made, one of two things would have happened. teixeira would either have come here, which would have been fantastic, or he would have turned down the offer which would have made teixeira the bad guy and not the orioles. it would have showed that the orioles made a real and true effort to make this team better. instead, the team lied to us just like it has done over and over and over again and told us day in and day out that they were still in it and that we had some flexibility. these lies were all just to appease the fans. bottom line, we were lied to AGAIN and i don't think many fans can take it anymore.

Dear Earl Weaver (the poster, not the real man),
Good riddence. As a TRUE Orioles fan, that routes for this team through thick and thin, I'm glad to see you go. We don't need bandwagoners here like the Sox and Yanks have. The plan, which was stated last year, was to build from the bottom up and thats what we're doing. And real fans know this and are excited about it. Tex wasn't the answer. The guys in Frederick and Bowie are. Thats what people need to understand, things are changing, but I understand its hard to be patient after what we've gone through for some of you. But the true fans will stick by and support this team, especially now when they need us most. You want big name free agents, pack the stands again so it makes sense. Fans who no longer attend the games are as bad as Tex. Everyone is saying Tex is only about "what can you do for me" instead of "what can I do for you". Well to all those fans who are saying, I'm giving up on this team, they won't sign big name free agents, I can't wait another couple of years, maybe you should look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are a "what can you do for me" or a "what can I do for you" fan. You want a winner, try and supporting your team for who they are, the Baltimore Orioles, our hometown team, pack the stadium again and good things will happen. There is too much belly-aching and not enough action of support of the team by fans. What player would want to come to a team where half of their home games are actually away games. Step it up fans. Its time for the Orioles Replubic to rise and fight off the Evil Empires and their fans. Keep the faith, support the team, and stop the bitching. This team is going to need us more than ever, its our turn to make this happen and quit the selfishness on our part.